This invention relates to doors which are prehung on a door frame, and, in particular to an installation aid which will hold the door closed and square during shipping, delivery, and installation of the prehung door.
The building industry has, for many years, provided to contractors, carpenters, and do-it-yourselfers doors that are prehung on wood frames. The prehung door typically includes a door, a door frame, and two or three hinges which connect the door to the frame. The frame is typically wooden and may be a single frame or a two-piece split frame. The machining of the door and frame to accept the hinges and preparation of the lock and strike are done in a manufacturing facility using equipment specifically designed for this purpose. In addition, interior casing is usually installed on either side of the door if it is installed on a flat one-piece frame, or on both sides, if the door is installed in a split frame. During production of the door assembly, the complete door frame, consisting of two side jambs and a head jamb are nailed together to form a frame around three sides of the door. The top jamb spans the distance between the side jambs at their tops, but nothing connects the side jambs along their bottoms. The side jambs can thus swing relative to each other.
When the complete frame is assembled, the hinges provide proper spacing between the door and the hinge jamb. However, when the other jamb (the strike jamb) is attached to the head jamb, there is nothing to secure it relative to the door. The strike jamb and the head jamb can thus move relative to the door and hinge jamb. To overcome this, many manufacturers use one or two dual headed nails and drive the nails through the back of the strike jamb into the door to temporarily hold the door and the strike jamb in position relative to each other for purposes of shipping. Because the nails have to be removed prior to installation of the door assembly, the manufacturer generally makes no effort to square the door in the frame. Therefore, as part of the installation process, the door installer must square the door in the door frame so that the door will operate properly and easily. When the nails are removed, there is nothing holding the strike jamb in place relative to the door or the hinge jamb. As a result, the prehung door assembly is difficult to handle, and thus is difficult to hang and square. Further, it is difficult to obtain the proper spacing between the door and the frame members. All this also makes it exceedingly difficult for one person to install the door assembly by himself. Additionally, the use of the nails leaves undesirable nail holes in the door and the strike jamb.
Other retaining devices have been provided to hold the door closed for handling and shipping and to eliminate the holes in the door and jamb created by the dual headed nails. However, most retaining devices, like the dual headed nails, must be removed prior to installation of the door in a doorway. As with the dual headed nails, once these devices are removed from the door assembly, there is nothing to hold the assembly together and to hold the door square in the frame. These devices therefore do not make installation of the door assembly any easier.
In our prior U.S. Pat. No. 5,722,203, which is incorporated herein by reference, we disclosed a prehung door installation aid which will hold the strike jamb in place relative to the door during installation of the door as well as during shipping of the door. This installation aid overcame the problems associated with the prior devices. The installation aid was a two piece device. A first piece is received in the back of the door jamb. A second piece is received in the door knob hole and has a post which extends through the bolt hole of the door. The post of the second piece mated with the first piece, and the two pieces were held together by a screw. Although the installation aid worked extremely well, because of the screw required for assembly, it met some resistance by the manufacturers. It would thus be desirable to provide a prehung door installation aid which does not require a separate screw to install the installation aid at the door assembly manufacturing plant.
Additionally, our prior installation aid could only be used with interior doors. It could not be used for exterior doors. It would be desirable to provide an installation aid which will also work with exterior doors.